 |
Post-Fire
Assessment
After the fire, the extent of the damage was apparent. To
douse the flames, the boat had more or less been filled with
water, adding insult to injury. |
| Much
of the woodwork at the aft end of the cabin, and in the galley,
was badly charred. The trim around the companionway was
badly burned; the fire had charred much of the port cockpit
locker, and had destroyed the inner skin of the deck's balsa cored
sandwich on the sidedeck above the port locker. The smoke,
flame, and water damage inside the cabin was substantial. |
Over the months following the fire, the owner slowly began working
his way into the remains of the boat. He removed the engine,
fuel tank, and their foundations, and began some basic cleanup by
powerwashing parts of the boat, and then concentrating on some
exploratory grinding to determine not only the extent of damage,
but his willingness--and inclination--to repair.
|
 |
Here's
Where I Come In
At some point in 2003, I heard about the boat's sad fate from a
friend, former Triton owner, and current Seabreeze owner, Art
Hall. I initially contacted Perelandra's owner, |
| but
at that immediate time he was still unsure as to how he planned to
proceed with the boat, and was not, at that point, ready to sell.
I left my information and mentioned that I might be interested,
should he have a change of heart. |
In spring 2004, I heard back from Art with an update: Perelandra's
owner was buying another Seabreeze, and Art figured he'd probably
be interested in selling. Again, I corresponded back and
forth with the owner, but it was a bad time for both of us, and we
couldn't manage to find a mutual time to get together. He
sent some pictures of the boat for me to look at in the meantime,
but after some thought, I sort of put the boat from my mind, as I
was unsure whether the Seabreeze was the right boat for me or not.
|
 |
With
summer, sailing, and cruising ahead, I promptly forgot about Perelandra
for a time. However, when we returned from cruising in
August, I had managed to infect myself with the bug |
| for
a new project boat, thanks to a friend's pointing out a Rhodes 41
in Bucks Harbor. For a few weeks, I obsessed over the
Rhodes, and even attended a Rhodes in Massachusetts, and a similar
Bounty II in Wiscasset, ME, all the while considering options. |
Clinching
the Idea
I had sort of discounted the thought of a Seabreeze during this
Rhodes obsession, but shortly thereafter I received an email from Perelandra's
owner, asking if I was still interested. After some thought
and discussion, I decided it would at least be worth going down
for a look. I chatted with Art Hall about the boats for a
while, and then one day he asked me out on his boat for a sail.
I was thoroughly pleased and impressed with the sailing qualities
of the boat, and, as always, admired the additional space on
board. The idea of taking on a Seabreeze project started to
become exciting. |
 |
On Saturday, October
9, 2004, I drove down to Boxford, MA to view the boat. I had
pored over pictures ad nauseum, but they didn't tell enough of a
story. I had to see the boat in person. |
|
On the following pages are more photos of the boat from that day,
along with comments about the visual condition of things.
Please
click here to go to the photos>>>
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